Friday, February 27, 2009

I'm baaaaack! While I haven't had much time to update this blog in the past few months, by no means did I stop eating ramen. I always have time for ramen. So I'll do my best to get caught up on blogging about a few of the places I went to during my absence, but for now, let me tell you about my recent noodle-fun.

On this very windy and chilly night in Honolulu (70 Degrees, Brrr), I couldn't think of a better thing to eat then some hot noodly-goodness. Since its Aloha Friday and there's no work till Monday, we decided to brave the crowds of tourists to eat at Menchanko-Tei in Waikiki.

While parking is available in the Waikiki Trade Center where Menchanko-Tei is located and they do validate during regular parking hours, during the evening there is usually just a flat rate of $11.00. We decided to park in the Top of Waikiki parking garage on Seaside St (about a 2 minute walk), where the flat rate is $5.00 from 6pm-12am.

While Menchnko-Tei is known for their menchanko, they also have a wide variety of other dishes including ramen, katsu, oden, nabe, and an assortment of appetizers. Of course i decided to have the good old regular menchanko($8.95). So what's menchanko you ask? According to the famous ramen-blogger, Rameniac, Menchanko is a sumo-style stew of traditional Japanese hot pot and ramen noodles.

My menchanko came in the traditional scalding hotpot, loaded with vegetables, tofu, mochi, a pair of shrimp and a piece of pork. The both itself was very mild, but went well with all the flavors of things added. The best part was definitely the piece of pork , but unfortunately there was only one piece. The noodles were also not quite what you'd see in ramen, but actually where more like jumbo ramen noodles. Not really the size or texture of udon, but really just extra large, but by no means overcooked or mushy, ramen noodles.

My friend also had menchanko but opted for the hot miso menchanko ($10.25). His menchanko looked almost exactly like mine with a slightly darker base. However, his broth tasted very different, with a distinct full miso flavor and just enough spicy kick.

In addition to our menchanko, we also had the seafood dynamite. I'm not quite sure what it was but it seemed to be a variety of seafood (shrimp, scalopes, crab, fish), mixed with tomato and onion, covered in a manyonaise sauce and then baked. Despite its strange appearance it ended up being very tasty.

Overall, Menchanko-tei was a perfect place to warm up. The service was fast, efficient and very friendly. Definitely worth the trip into Waikiki.